The Dick Cavett Show: Comic Legends

Picture: C+Sound: C+Extras: B-Episodes: B+

Comedy is not what it used to be.More of it is either very political often to
the point of no longer being funny or is really about crude insults without either
context or ironic distance.However, a
golden era of comics and their work was not that long ago and many of the best
appeared on The Dick Cavett Show.Cavett is also a comic and Shout! Factory has released the fourth DVD of
his shows.Following releases featuring
Ray Charles, a Rock Icons set and the double DVD John & Yoko
Collection (reviewed elsewhere on this site) is Comic Legends, which
might be the strongest set yet.

The line-up is nothing short of stunning and unlike the
great hits on the Rock Icons set that you hear all the time, we do not
hear these genuine, vintage, original kings and queens of comedy enough.The contents of this terrific, even
humorously intense four DVD set are:

Of course, no one is wittier than Groucho, which is a bold
statement to make considering the brilliant wit here, but that says something
about the genius and icon’s icon Groucho was.Woody Allen shows up twice in what was just the beginning of his
still-running and thriving directing career, with Match Point being his
latest triumph as of this posting 37 years after the first broadcast and we
even see film clips of his early films, including the underrated Take The
Money & Run.Rex Reed is very
well-spoken and is so on the money about Hollywood and The Oscars in his appearance,
predicting much of the ceremony.Brooks
is hilarious as expected, but then comes the lead actors from Michelangelo
Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point: Mark Frechette & Dana Halprin.

They were already stirring controversy up off screen as
Cavett eventually gets to, but at this time, the film was soon to open.To give some perspective, Antonioni was
responsible for a mature new wave of Italian Neo-Realism and after an amazing
trilogy that began with L’Avventura and bold use of color soon after
with Red Desert in 1964 and outright classic Blow Up in 1966,
reviewed elsewhere on this site.Zabriskie
Point was a very daring film in its limited dialogue, visual narrative,
idea of the young people as shrunken by corporate capitalism all around them
with oversized advertisements as part of that motif.MGM greenlighted the film because Blow Up was such a
critical and commercial success, but lightning did not strike twice critically
or commercially as all had hoped.It is
hard to say whether the duo’s conduct helped or hurt the box office, but the
film is still a bold one from Antonioni and with music by an early version of
Pink Floyd is still considered ahead of its time.The episode here is one of the most interesting as a result.

Jerry Lewis is also very much interested in talking about
filmmaking more than even making jokes, an underrated director.Bill Cosby is blunt about comedy and
politics as he launches The Electric Company (reviewed elsewhere on this
site) that turned out to be one of his greatest successes ever, though the
audience did not necessarily know what to think.Jack Benny is in great form, while Carol Burnett was in peak form
as her show was maybe the hottest on TV at the time.Then there is the generational teaming of the controversial Smothers
Brothers and George Burns, which works out very well.Finally, there is Lucille Ball, very serious and obviously a bit
tired promoting her 1974 remake of Mame.It turned out to be a bomb, but Ball’s appearance here is far
from that, with interesting insight in how she sees the industry at that point
and what a mogul and important figure she was to the industry at that.

The 1.33 X 1 image is a little better than is the double
DVD John & Yoko Collection, with less disappointing with detail
troubles at the edges, but once again directly from the analog professional
NTSC tape source.The Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono is a little clearer than expected, though the music was more important on
the John & Yoko Collection, the difference between the two is still
more technical.Extras include intros
by Cavett as he reflects on the shows again, a featurette called Cavett
Remembers Comic Legends and alternate opening for the first Groucho
appearance on DVD1, outtakes with Woody Allen and Joanne Carson segment from a
film backup copy on DVD 2, Cavett promo and Ed Sullivan appearance on DVD3, a
few more promos & backstage featurette on DVD 4 and another high-quality
thin booklet with text inside the Digipak foldout.

Most of this is funny and intelligent, but the set offers
much more.If you want to see TV at its
very best, The Dick Cavett Show – Comic Legends is loaded with
remarkable moments that are must see material for fans and a key installment in
any serious DVD comedy library.